After nearly half a million total votes were cast, Eddie Van Halen has been named the victor in Guitar World's first-ever Greatest Guitarist of All Time poll. The tournament-style readers poll began in April with 132 guitarists, including four — Malcolm Young, Nuno Bettencourt, Jake E. Lee and Chet Atkins — who were voted in by readers.

What a long, strange trip it's been. Back in early April, we set out to determine your choice for the greatest guitarist of all time. A bracket was made, players were ranked — a few were voted in — and we kicked off our Greatest Guitarist of All Time readers poll. It was a mammoth 132-guitarist tournament that would span nearly six months and log close to a half-million votes when all was said and done.

Joe Walsh performed with the Les Paul Trio last night at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. It's not uncommon for some big names to drop by unexpectedly, and such was the case last night when Jimmy Page walked in to check out the show.

Rage Against the Machine took to Facebook earlier today to announce the release of a special 20th anniversary box set to commemorate two decades since the release of the band's debut self-titled album.